home made mortise chisel

another small project done.this is a mortise chisel made with HSS-Cobalt steel, decidedly hard ( hrc is 70) and very difficult to shape.I’ve grinded a standard HSS-cobalt bar, one of those aimed to serve as lathe tool (parting or anything else), for about 2 1/2” to make the tang. The bar is 8” lenght with square section of 0,55” (14mm). The bevel is 35°, cutted under water to prevent heating the steel and thus keeping hardness.

The handle, admittedly not the best but working, is made of hard maple with hammer ferrule made out of iron (a ring cut out from a section of plumbing!). Again saving some money !

Yes, cobalt is much harder than hi-speed. I admire your patience for grinding that down. Steels that hard tend to be brittle so use caution.I put a piece of pipe on my chisel handles too, keeps them from splitting.There will likely be times you’ll want to use that chisel sans mallet, a ridge or ramp by the junction of the handle and the blade helps the thumb push there.Well done.

thanks guys.for the video request, I could make one for the next chisel I’m going to make, smaller section but same method.It will be a 3/8” (10mm). In the mean time may be some more picture of this one will be useful, I can disassemble it with easy.I agree with you NotaJock, the handle flush with the body helps in delicate operations; that’s what I had in mind when shaped the handle; as I said, it could be less “aesthetic” but more suitable to me.

Looks good Wapy,As allready said by others, cobalt is hard indeed! That alls results in the shocks from impact with a mallet and the rebound travelling along the blade to be absorbed by the handle. that results in a higher risk of splitting the handle. You might consider adding a ferrule at the tang with a leather ring between ferrule and the root of the blade for extra shockabsorption.